European Resistance Archive/European Resistance Archive (ERA)

Discrimination of Slovenes after war

You always hat to stick up for yourself and you were never accepted.

At the inn you were laughed at or reviled as a betrayer of your home country.

My father was playing music at the neighbour’s, when somebody took his trombone and broke it.

Then he said: “Go home to Laibach or wherever you belong.”

Things like that happened quite often.

Or once, when we were at the inn, some youngsters came and shouted:

“Bugger off!” and “Betrayers, what are you doing here?”

Although my husband was recognised as a partisan.

Over at Maddau, when the resettled families had their annual meeting in the public cinema,

it was decided to have a silent protest march up to the cathedral.

Although the bishop did not allow that, we still went up there.

At the police station, the police were already waiting with the fire brigade.

When we got up there, there was a barrier.

Some of our people jumped up and tried to clear the way.

All of a sudden they pointed these hoses at us and instead of a greeting, they soaked us.

On the other side the English were standing.

I got so annoyed: “Oh, these are our confederates?”

We laughed into their faces.

Our women - our mothers were crying and screaming.